Nightmares
by duncan.mcmanis
Summary: Something's wrong, and it's up to Kurusu and his homestays to figure out what is, and who is driving these innocent people to take their own lives. Demons will be faced, crushed, conquered, and tamed in order to solve this mystery. *Rated accordingly for language, violence, and safety*
1. Chapter 1

Nightmares. Chapter 1.

 **Authors note: Hello everyone, this is an idea that popped into my head while browsing the crossover section, I saw that there was only one other crossover between these franchises and thought to myself "Hmmmm… This could actually be interesting, and could use some more installments. And, there is that one concept I've been wanting to explore for a while." And so, this story was born. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it. With that being said, enjoy.**

Kurusu Kimihito, was a young man with short, messy black hair, bright brown eyes, and was currently wearing a white T-shirt and comfortable black shorts. Currently, Kurusu was sitting in a squishy armchair in what looked like a large airplane cabin, the entire space was a beautiful shade of Royal blue with shelves holding various expensive looking liquor and drinks lining the wall, and the floor was covered in a thick, velvety, dark blue carpet that felt soft to the touch. Kurusu, rubbed his bare feet against the carpet and was pleasantly greeted by the sensation of soft velvet against his feet. Even with his observation of the room, Kurusu, still somehow managed to miss something, or rather someone sitting right in front of him. "Greetings, Kurusu Kimihito," a voice said.

Once he heard the voice, Kurusu's attention and his eyes snapped forward and saw a round, clear glass table and sitting opposite of him on the other side of the table was a scrawny looking man with a round, mostly bald head with some light gray hair going around the lower part of his head, that was normal compared to what his face looked like, he had round bulging eyes with dark circles around them, a long pointed nose, and a somewhat evil smile spreading from ear to ear. Though the strangers face was admittingly a bit unsightly, he was very sharply dressed, with an expensive looking black suit, pristine white gloves, and fancy black leather shoes. The strange man's long, bony fingers were laced together while his elbows were leaned on the thin looking glass of the table. "Welcome to the Velvet Room," the elder man greeted, his tone was a strange mix of creepy and friendly. "My name is Igor, it's a pleasure to meet you," the man now identified as Igor continued as he extended one of his hands to shake Kurusu's.

"Um… Thanks for the warm welcome?" Kurusu said as he extended his own hand and shook Igor's. He felt very confused by what was happening right now, the last thing he remembered was laying comfortably in his bed, now is in an airplane, with a stranger, and judging from the nighttime view they were already high above sea level, how in the world did he get here?

"Tell me Kurusu, do you believe in fortune-telling?" Igor asked as the two finished their friendly handshake and laced his fingers back together.

"I guess…"

"It just so happens to be a specialty of mine," Igor told the boy before he placed his hand in the middle of the glass table. The strange man then swung his arm out and there were several cards all face down before Kurusu. "All my fortune-telling is done using the same cards. And yet, the results are always different," Igor explained. "Life works very much the same way, no? Now then, pick out one of these cards to reveal," he asked of his guest.

Kurusu thoughtfully eyed the cards in front of him. With a hesitant hand, he flipped over one of the cards to reveal a stylized picture of a tower being destroyed.

"Ah, the Tower Arcana, this card represents the immediate future and foretells of a great catastrophe," the fortuneteller explained. "Now, please select another card."

Like last time, Kurusu was a bit hesitant but flipped over another card. This card was a golden moon with an emerald green background.

"Hmmm… The Moon, this card is crossroads, and mystery," Igor said sounding very intrigued by the cards Kurusu has chosen. "I see, in the near future you will encounter a disaster that will impose our mystery upon you, and the choices you make in trying to solve this mystery will greatly affect the lives of those around you. Very interesting." Igor closed his eyes to ponder for a moment what all of this could mean. Kurusu was left feeling confused. "Well, there is only one more question we need answered as of tonight, Kurusu, please choose another card," Igor asked once again of the young man.

Kurusu's eyes turned back to the cards in front of him and thought for a moment which cards he should choose, but before he knew it his hand was already on one of said cards, he turned it over and revealed a picture of a strange and confused looking man with a small dog behind him, and bag over his shoulder.

"Interesting… So that is the form your power has taken…" Igor said it gently rubbing his chin.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Kurusu asked curiosly.

"Your power, which currently lies dormant within you, has chosen to follow the path of the fool, to draw power from the number zero," Igor explained.

"What does that mean?"

" It means that your power is like the number zero, empty, and yet holds infinite possibilities," Igor further explained to the confused looking young Mr. Kimihito.

Nothing of what the fortuneteller just told Kurusu Kimihito made any sense to him, there was one more question he wanted to ask. "Um, Mr. Igor, not that this hasn't been an interesting conversation, but, why are you telling me this?" He asked the elder man. "I mean, it seems like you went through a lot of trouble just to have my fortune told. I mean seriously, kidnapping me, getting me on this fancy jet."

"Kidnap? How could I have kidnapped you if you haven't even left the comfort of your own home?" Igor spoke sounding very casual.

"Huh?"

"That's right, you are still peacefully sleeping in your own room. Also, it was not even I who summoned you, rather it was the Velvet Room itself," Igor further explained. "Why you've been summoned here I can't say for sure, but I do know this much, nothing in this room happens without purpose or reason. So the fact that you've been brought here by the Velvet Room means that it has a plan for you." As Igor finished his explanation Kurusu slowly began to fade into thin air. "My, my… It seems our time is up. I look forward to when we meet again," he said maintaining his evil smile. Before his guest could ask any more questions the boy completely vanished leaving nothing but an empty armchair. Once Kurusu was gone Igor turned his attention back to the cards in front of them. "The fool, huh? I wonder what kind of fate his inner self could lead to," as he finished his sentence, Igor flipped over another card in his usual grin was immediately replaced by uncharacteristic scowl. On the card was a picture of a gray skull in front of a large gate, it was the arcana that represented death. "Not good… Not good at all," as he finished he replaced the foreboding card facedown on the table. There were a lot of work and hardships ahead.

(Play "on the precipice of defeat")

In the dead of night we find a young policeman with black hair and dark eyes walking through the local park on patrol. It had been unusually cloudy lately and because of this there were no visible stars or moon, so the only light came from the surrounding buildings and the nearby streetlamps. As the policeman walked down the smooth brick pathway he saw something, a middle-aged man with dark gray hair wearing a tattered, long sleeve shirt, shabby pants and no shoes, standing alone in the light of the nearby lamp post. It was strange to see someone in the park at this time of night, but what really caught the policeman's attention was the gun the elder man was holding against his temple, the policeman immediately knew what the man was about to do. "W–Wait!" the policeman shouted. "Sir, I don't know what's going on, but whatever your problem is this isn't the answer! Tell you what, why don't you put the gun down and come with me to the station," he told the gray-haired man in his desperate attempt to keep him from pulling the trigger.

When the policeman finished speaking the man slowly turned around keeping the gun pointed directly at his head, and looked at the policeman with empty, dead eyes, but that wasn't the strangest thing, it was the dark black cracks around the elder man's eyes. "No," the elder man said in a distorted, demonic monotone. "This one already belongs to me." And with that said, he pulled the trigger, a silent click closely followed by a loud, resonating bang, sounding the end of a poor soul's life.

 **Authors note: And done. Not a bad start if I do say so myself XP. But seriously, thank you so much for reading it really means a lot to me. Just in case you hadn't noticed, the scene in the Velvet Room probably felt a lot like the opening to Persona 4, and from the looks of things is going be a lot more scenes that will feel like something from that game rather than something from the anime/manga, just so you know what to expect in the future. But getting back to the main point of these notes, again, thank you so much for reading it really means a lot to me and I sincerely hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I can't guarantee when my next update will come out, but if you liked this I've got plenty of other stories for you to try out in the meantime. Favorite, Follow, and Review, and I'll see you in the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

Nightmares. Chapter 2.

 **Authors note: Hello once again everyone. Glad to see you back for chapter 2. Now, in the last chapter we had some relatively ominous foreshadowing and left on a fairly dark dark note. Here we'll try to mix it up a little bit with some lighthearted comedy and only a little exposition. I'm sure at least one of you is excited or at least curious to see Kurusu's Persona. I'm excited to see that, too. So, bear with me. And with all that useless schpiel out of the way, enjoy.**

Kurusu groggily woke up in a squishy bed to the midday sunlight spilling into his room from between the curtains. What was that weird dream about with Igor and the Velvet Room? Something about a mystery and the form his power took. Why did he let, Miia, talk him into that late night movie marathon? Speaking of a certain amber eyed, snake tailed, redhead, Kurusu felt something scaly coiled around his entire body, something that was steadily tightening its grip. "Miia, it's the middle of the day, time to wake up," Kurusu said gently attempting to wake up the sleeping lamia.

"Just let me warm up five more degrees," the snake girl muttered dreamily while she softly squirmed a little bit, the sunlight giving her scales a dazzling shine to them.

Kurusu was glad that Miia was having such a good sleep, but he had to get out of there for two reasons. First, he had to get his day going and do some grocery shopping. Second . . . his thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of his bones cracking. Second, it was getting hard to breathe. Her death grip wasn't letting up, even now his vision was starting to go blurry. The only ray of hope for Kurusu's survival was the end of Miia's tail, her one weakness. He stretched out his fingers in a desperate attempt to get a hold of his target, but it was just out of his reach.

"Hey, darling…" Miia said in a seductive tone. "I think I know what would help me warm up," she brought her face closer to the human's. "Maybe a good morning kiss," she was about to completely close the distance between her and her beloved, when suddenly she felt a firm grasp at the tip of her tail. Miia winced, and instead of kissing Kurusu she pulled the young man into a tight hug, panting for breath. "D-darling, I understand that you're eager, but please, try to be gentle," she panted while subconsciously loosening her coiled grip.

"Miia…" came a smooth feminine voice that, while sweet as honey, was filled with venom. At the sound of this voice, Miia's blood went cold, (No pun intended) and she slowly turned her head to see one of the few people she feared. Towering above them was a woman with shoulder length pale purple hair, six blood red eyes, black clawlike hands, and the body of a black spider from the hips down. "Care to explain why you're trying to strangle Honey in his sleep?" the woman said with a sweet but somehow unnerving smile. She held up the end of the snake girl's tail.

"Rachnera-san…" Miia said with a trembling voice as beads of sweat rolled down her face.

Rachnera's smile widened as she giggled with glee. "Miia, I already told you once, did I not," she continued while tightening her fingers around the scaly end. "You don't need to be so formal. So you can drop the _san_."

Exactly 30 seconds later, Miia was strung up by Rachnera's silk, with her arms tied behind her back she was left dangling from the ceiling looking an awful lot like bait for a fish. Rachnera stood there with her arms crossed looking very pleased with her work. She could have strung the redhead up a lot quicker, but she felt like taking her time to enjoy the process today. "You okay Honey?" she said turning her head back to Kurusu.

"I'm fine… Just a little sore…" Kurusu grunted feeling more than _'just a little sore'_. "Thanks for the assist," he thanked the spider woman as he rose from his bed.

"No thanks needed, it was my pleasure," Rachnera said with a pleasant smile.

 _"I'll bet it was,"_ Kurusu thought to himself with a slightly exasperated look.

"But," the spider woman said, "if you really want to show thanks," she continued with a seductive voice while wrapping her arms around the human's neck. "I can think of a few ways to do just that."

Kurusu firmly placed his index finger on Rachnera's forehead and pushed her away. "I can think of my own ways, thanks," he said looking stern and annoyed. "I need to get food for dinner tonight. Can you watch the place until I come back," he asked over his shoulder as he fetched a fresh change of clothes.

"Of course, Honey," Rachnera responded happily.

"Thank you," Kurusu said politely as he slightly bowed his head. He then proceeded through his bedroom door to make his way to the bathroom, where he would clean up and get ready for the rest of the day.

"Now then…" Rachnera said with a playfully mischievous look in her eye as she turned to face a tied up Miia, who froze as cold beads of sweat rolled down her scaly cheeks. "What to do with you…?"

"Oh, one more thing Rachnera," Kurusu said, suddenly appearing in the doorway, startling the two non-humans. "No funny business while I'm out," he said with a stern look. He then, once again, left to clean himself up.

A moment of silence passed before Rachnera snorted with a smile. "Buzz kill," she said in a low voice, maintaining her smile. Rachnera then snipped a single thread using one sharp finger, causing Miia to fall to the earth with a high-pitched yelp closely followed by a loud thud.

On the ground level floor of the house, Kurusu was standing before the bathroom sink with the tap running cold water. He cupped his hands under the flowing water and bent over to splash it in his face. His mind was buzzing with thoughts about his dream last night. What power was Igor talking about? If memory served, Igor said that Kurusu's power had taken the form of the Fool, the number zero, which was empty yet infinite. 'Empty yet infinite' what did that mean? "It was just a stupid dream Kurusu," he thought to himself. He was right. It was just some weird dream, probably caused by one of the movies Miia had him watch before going to bed.

Kurusu turned off the nozzles on the sink, stopping the flow of water. He then raised his head to look at himself in the mirror and what he saw was a surprise to say the least. His left eye had become pitch black and the iris had gone from its usual brown to an ominous blood red. Black cracks had also formed around the darkened eye. More out of reflex and panic than anything, Kurusu gasped at the bizarre site and brought his arm up to wipe away at his left eye with the back of his arm and hand. Once he removed his arm from his face, Kurusu's eye looked perfectly normal, like nothing had ever changed. He looked down at the part of his arm used to wipe his face. It was perfectly clean, with no signs of anything foreign. "I need to lay off the coffee," Kurusu said aloud to himself as he grabbed a white towel on the wall and dried his face.

Fully dressed and awake, Kurusu walked into the living room of his house, where all of his nonhuman homestays were going about their daily lives. The blonde centaur, Centorea, was diligently polishing her sword, which had no blade or sharp edge. The blue haired simpleton of a harpy, Papi, was playing a game of pattycake with the blue and green slime, Suu, which was a surprisingly difficult feat since Papi had feathered wings and not proper hands. Mero, the pink haired, pink tailed mermaid was sitting in her wheelchair watching the news. "Good morning everyone," Kurusu greeted the other residents with a cheerful smile.

"Morning?" Centorea questioned with an arched brow. "Forgive my boldness, Master, but it is already mid day."

"Oh yeah, my mistake," Kurusu said while scratching the back of his head out of embarrassment. His attention was then drawn to the TV.

"Our next story, local office worker, Hideki Tanaka, age 52, committed suicide at 1:46 AM last night."

"How awful," Mero said quietly, her eyes filled with sadness and her voice, laced with remorse.

"No kidding," Kurusu commented, startling the young mermaid.

"Oh! Hello dear Sir, good afternoon," Mero quickly said with a friendly, regal smile. "Did you sleep well?"

"I slept well, thanks for asking," Kurusu responded. "I did have a pretty weird dream though," he continued.

Mero blinked at the mention of the strange dream. "What kind of dream was it," she questioned, her eyes full of genuinely innocent curiosity.

"Oh… Well…" Kurusu's mind was once again filled with thoughts and images of a half bald fortuneteller wearing a black suit and strangely ominous fortune-telling. "I-It's nothing, nevermind," his attention was once again brought to the news on the television.

"The policeman who witnessed Hideki Tanaka's suicide claims to have seen what looked like black cracks around his eyes. Whether or not the office worker was taking any drugs or medications that would create such marks is still unknown."

Kurusu then remembered what occurred only minutes ago; his left eye had taking a drastic change of color and had similar crack like marks around it. He rubbed his head with his hand and sighed. It finally happened, without a doubt, Miia's horrendous cooking was finally starting to mess with his mind. Maybe it was time that he finally started cracking down on the lamia and gave her some proper lessons on cooking. "Sniff, sniff. Sniff, sniff." Speaking of cooking, something smelled good. "Sniff, sniff." Really good.

Kurusu walked out of the living room, across the hall, and into the dining room with the kitchen at one end and a large TV on the other. In the kitchen, he saw the blue skinned, silver haired, ebony clad dullahan, Lala, cooking a meal for everyone, while she wore a bright pink apron with white frills and a decorative strawberry on the lower left corner over her clothes.

"Lala?" Kurusu said curiously, alerting the cooking girl to his presence.

Lala whirled around, blushing fiercely, to face her human host. "K-Kurusu!?" she sputtered.

"I didn't know you could cook," Kurusu said with friendly honesty. "That apron looks cute on you too."

"T-This?" Lala said as she took a look at herself. "It's just something that Miia let me borrow, really!" she quickly said.

Kurusu couldn't help but laugh at the flustered dullahan. "The food smells great and I'd love to stick around for lunch, but I have to go do some grocery shopping today. I left Rachnera in charge. But don't worry, I made her promise that she wouldn't try anything," he quickly added, seeing the worried look on Lala's face. "But even so…" Kurusu quickly and quietly the checked the hallway, searched the area beyond the window that led outside, and looked at the ceiling to make sure that the spider woman he was talking about wasn't within earshot. "Keep an eye on her and make sure that she keeps her promise," Kurusu whispered to Lala.

"Will do," Lala assured the human.

Kurusu smiled at the girl. "All right, I better get to the market before the sale ends." He then walked towards the door and Lala returned to her cooking. "Oh, Lala," Kurusu said before he opened the door, gaining the dullahan's attention. "You really do look cute in that apron," he said with a friendly smile. Lala's face went from its usual pale blue to firetruck red. But before she could say anything back at him, Kurusu was already tying his shoes at the front door. He quickly said goodbye to everyone and hurried to the grocery store to make it in time for the big sale.

The supermarket … one of Kurusu's favorite places to be. Most people would find shopping to be a boring and tedious chore, but Kurusu liked this place. The smell of fresh food always hung in the air. The friendly, gossiping housewives were always fun to talk with. And the free samples didn't hurt either. At the moment, Kurusu was in the process of picking out fresh, organic carrots for Centorea; she was fairly picky about what went into her salad.

"You are, Kurusu Kimihito, correct?" a woman said from behind the young man.

Kurusu calmly turned around and saw a nonhuman woman, a rare subspecies of dragonnewt called "ryu–jin" standing before him. She was dressed in what looked like a velvety blue flight attendant's uniform. She had dusty gray hair, golden yellow eyes behind a pair of blue under-frame glasses, deer like antlers, a long tail covered in golden scales, and clawlike hands with the same golden scales. This dragon woman had a mature and elegant air about her.

"Yes, I'm Kurusu," he answered simply.

"Hmmm… I see," the nonhuman woman said before she approached Kurusu, her high-heeled shoes clicking sharply with each step. She then straightened her glasses as if to get a better look and leaned towards Kurusu, their noses almost touching. A short moment of silence, that felt like hours, passed between the two before the woman smiled silently. "No wonder my master has taken an interest in you," she commented very casually as she took a step back, leaving a confused Kurusu one pace away. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Kimihito. My name is Ryuko," she said as she bowed politely. "I'm certain you have questions, but I'm unable to answer them at this time. For now, I am only here to give you this." Ryuko then grasped Kurusu's free hand and placed a small, metallic object in his open palm before she curled her fingers to close Kurusu's grip on the object. "Try not to lose it." Ryuko then released Kurusu's hand hand, bowed elegantly, and walked away.

"What was that about?" Kurusu said, dumbfounded. Kurusu then looked at his outstretched hand and opened his curled fingers to reveal a small blue key with familiar symbol on one end. Not sure of what to do, he absentmindedly pocketed the key and resumed his shopping.

After Kurusu returned home the rest of his day was relatively normal: Miia and Centorea were practically at each other's throats, Lala was writing some kind of poem, Papi and Suu were, well…Papi and Suu, and Rachnera and Mero, uh… You get the drill. Kurusu prepared and enjoyed a lively dinner for himself and his homestays. After that he read one of the few books he had for pleasure and entertainment, (It was Sci-fi, nothing perverted) while Miia and Mero watched a sappy, romantic movie. And now, Kurusu lie in his bed, blankly staring at the key that was given to him. The part of the key that caught his attention was the symbol on it. It looked just like the one on Igor's tarot cards.

Kurusu let out a heavy sigh."I REALLY need to lay off the coffee," he said to himself as he placed the object on the windowsill next to his bed. He was tired of thinking about half bald fortunetellers and the form of his power. In fact, he was just plain tired. Kurusu closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, knowing that all of today's weirdness would just be memories by tomorrow. If only it were that easy.

When Kurusu's eyes opened he felt the sensation of cold, rough stone beneath his bare feet. He discovered, however, that he was not in his bedroom, but in a dark forest in the dead of night. Despite it being so dark, Kurusu didn't have the slightest problem seeing his surroundings.

"Hello Kurusu, long time no see," came a man's voice. Kurusu looked around but found no one but himself in the otherwise deserted area. "I'm down here," the voice said.

Kurusu looked down and saw a large, long-haired cat with white fur and wearing frameless, silver wire glasses sitting in front of him. Wait a minute… since when do cats wear glasses? "I don't suppose that was you talking to me me was it?" Kurusu said jokingly at the scruffy feline.

"It was me actually," the cat replied casually. Kurusu stood there and stared with a hint of shock and his eyes. "My name, in case you've forgotten, is Fluff," Fluff introduced himself as he sat on his hindquarters and straightened his glasses with his paw. "And this, Kurusu Kimihito, is your Dreamscape."

 **Authors note: Phew. That was a lot longer than I expected it to be, but I'm happy with how it came out. I know we still didn't get to see any Persona action, but I promise that in the next chapter we will all see some very unlucky Shadows get ripped up by Kurusu's Persona. If you liked what you saw here then head over to my page and check out some of my other work. All promises and shameless self-promotion aside, thank you guys so much for reading this story. It really means a lot to me. I sincerely hope that you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did. And until the next chapter comes out Follow, Favorite, and Review. I'll see you guys in the next chapter. (whenever I make it.) Thank you.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors note: Hello once again everyone. I don't know about the rest of you, but I've really been looking forward to this chapter for a couple of reasons: 1, I get to show off my character Fluff, 2, we get to see some Persona action. Grab some popcorn and lineup your Persona music, I promise were going to have some fun here. Enjoy.**

"My… what?" Kurusu cocked his head and stared into the cat's large, emerald green eyes behind the frameless rectangular glasses.

"Your dreamscape. Kurusu, you're dreaming and what you see around you is the manifestation of your heart, the world within your mind," the scruffy feline explained.

Kurusu looked around him to take in the sight, and what he saw was, well… less than impressive. He stood on a rough, uneven stone path that circled a large, broken, and dry fountain. The path that circled the fountain also branched out and led to eight doorways of various size and shape, all of which were empty and broken. Surrounding Kurusu, Fluff, and the nonexistent doors was a rusty iron fence that separated them from the rest of the forest. Directly opposite of Kurusu, on the other side of what he was guessing was supposed to be a garden, was an immaculate iron gate that looked as rusty as the rest of the fence.

"Welcome to the Moon Yard. I know it's not much to look at nowadays, but this is your world," Fluff said to the admittedly confused Kurusu.

"Dreamscape, Moon Yard, my world, Fluff?" as Kurusu finished he realized something about the cat's introduction, he knew Kurusu by name. "Wait a minute, you called me _'Kurusu'_ ," he said.

"I did. Would you rather I call you something else?" Fluff responded.

"No, it's not that, but how do you know my name?"

When Kurusu asked his question, the cat's pleasant look was replaced with a deep scowl. (Can cats scowl?) "Kurusu Kimihito…" as Fluff said Kurusu's name once again, he jumped onto the rim of the shabby fountain and sat down on his hindquarters. "Are you honestly saying that you don't remember me? Even after all the times I helped you with your schoolwork and kept you company on those lonely days?" he said, sounding less than amused.

A white, long-haired cat with glasses that helped Kurusu with schoolwork and kept him company? Once he started thinking about it something about that description did sound vaguely familiar and then there was that name, Fluff. Kurusu thought about it for an uncomfortably silent moment between him and the scowling feline… And then, it finally hit him.

"Hang on, you wouldn't happen to be _'Fluff the genius cat'_ my old imaginary friend from when I was a kid, would you?" Kurusu said with a small amount of amazement in his voice.

"I am indeed," Fluff responded with a pleasant tone and a satisfied smile.

"What are you doing here, and how exactly is this a dream?" Kurusu questioned further, looking around at the Moon Yard once again.

"Igor asked me to come. He also told me about your meeting in the Velvet Room and thought that if you're going to solve this mystery you would need a bit of help," Fluff explained to the curious Kurusu.

Kurusu raised an eyebrow. "What mystery?"

"You remember the news broadcast from earlier today? The one about the man who committed suicide," Fluff took a rather serious tone.

Kurusu did seem to recall the anchorwoman saying something about a suicide. "Vaguely," he answered.

"What would you say if I told you that the man didn't die by committing suicide. Rather, he was murdered?" Fluff and Kurusu traded a moment of intense silence.

"I'd say you've had too much catnip," was Kurusu's response.

"I'm serious," Fluff said curtly. "Someone out there is abusing the magic of one's dreamscape to commit murder, and it would seem that we are the ones fate has chosen to capture this person," he continued. "Furthermore, Kurusu, if we are going to bring the culprit to justice, then we should figure out how to summon your Perso-" Fluff stopped abruptly and his ears began twitching before he turned to face the iron gate. "That doesn't sound like a Shadow or a wild Persona… an outsider?" he turned again and looked Kurusu in the eye. "Wait here Kurusu, I'll be right back," the cat then left the fountain walked quickly to the gate and leapt over it, leaving Kurusu by himself.

He wasn't sure whether it was instinct, curiosity, intuition, or impulse, but Kurusu somehow found himself standing before the gate that separated him from the forest. With no small amount of effort, Kurusu pushed the rusted iron gate causing it to squeak open. He then rushed down the same path that Fluff scampered down only moments ago. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about this forest felt, for lack of a better word, homey. The shadowy trees, the twisty paths, and the cold night air would be rather offputting for most, but there was a certain something about all these elements that really made it feel like it was his world, like this was a special place for no one other than him.

Eventually Kurusu came to a clearing in which he saw a little girl with long brown hair that was kept out of her face via a yellow hair clip. She wore pink pajamas with a decorative white cat on the lower belly, her face was streaked with tears and she was holding onto Fluff's bushy tail. She saw Kurusu standing at the edge of the clearing. "Mister?" She croaked. It was then that Kurusu realized who she was. She was one of the kids Papi would play with from time to time. What was she doing here, in his dream?

"Kurusu!" Fluff shouted. "What are you doing here? I told you to stay put," he scolded the human.

"Sorry, sorry. Guess I couldn't help myself," Kurusu apologized. "So… What's with the girl?"

"She wandered in here from her own dreamscape and got lost, so I'm helping her find her way back," the bespectacled cat explained.

Kurusu raised a brow and cocked his head. "She just wandered in? How?"

"Some people with bonds or connections, no matter how weak or strong, will occasionally stumble upon one another's dreamscape. It's actually fairly common," Fluff explained before he tensed up and looked in a different direction. "What are Shadows doing here? They've never been this close before."

"Fluff? Is something wrong?" Kurusu asked as he approached the other two.

"We need to hide, Kurusu get behind those trees," Fluff ordered the human male.

"Fluff, what's going-"

"Go!" the bespectacled cat exclaimed before Kurusu made a beeline for a tree behind him. "Girl, you stay with me and whatever you do don't make a sound," Fluff instructed the child; she nodded and Fluff quickly led the girl, who was still holding on to his tail, to another tree a short way from Kurusu.

Kurusu and Company waited and it wasn't long before they sensed some kind of presence, and it was not a pleasant kind. Kurusu could hear something moving through the clearing, something wet and sticky dragging itself over the dirt and twigs. Kurusu then heard a voice whispering soft words that he couldn't make out in his head, he shook his head and the voice disappeared as suddenly and mysteriously as it came.

The unwelcome presence shifted and inched closer to Kurusu, Fluff, and the girl. The hairs on the back of Kurusu's neck stood on end as a surging chill crawled up his spine. With fear and curiosity drowning out his sense of reason, Kurusu risked a look at what was scaring him so much. Slowly and a little hesitantly Kurusu moved to the side to peak from behind the tree and saw a large group of what looked like blobs of black tar with blue masks of frowning faces, their long, slimy arms pulling them along the ground.

After only barely having a glance at these creatures Kurusu's left eye felt like it was on fire. He pressed his palm over the burning eye and with a grunt of pain he returned to his hiding spot behind the tree. The voice had returned and while it was still quiet and soft its whispers could be heard this time.

 _"Thou art I, and I and thou."_

"What?" Kurusu said with a strained voice through gritted teeth.

"KURUSU LOOK OUT!" Fluff yelled.

Kurusu's senses immediately returned to him and the hot pain in his stomach combined with the tingling rush of adrenaline told him that he was in danger. Forgetting about the pain in his head, he jumped away from the tree just before it was knocked to the side by one of the Shadows' immense limbs. The beast roared, calling for its comrades.

"DAMMIT, RUN!" Fluff yelled, he sprang out of his dark hiding spot behind another tree, the girl still holding his tail and ran off down the twisted path that led Kurusu to the clearing. Kurusu followed suit and quickly caught up with them.

They ran for a period of time that was hard to measure. In moments that felt like decades the searing ache in Kurusu's head intensified, causing him to stumble and fall to his knees while holding his temples; the voice returned once again.

 _"Thy current path is one that leads only to darkness and ruin, but by my hands I shall pave thy road to salvation."_

It was then that Kurusu felt something in his right hand. He looked and saw clasped between his fingers the Fool Archona tarot card that Igor, the Velvit Room's fortune teller, had used . Fluff noticed that Kurusu had fallen behind and stopped. "Kurusu, what are you doing?!" the cat demanded, seeing the pack of Shadows rapidly approaching them.

 _"You need only call upon me."_

Kurusu, almost unconsciously, rose to his feet, still staring at the card.

"Come on, we have to go now!" Fluff yelled. He very much wanted to be in the safety of the main garden, but he was not about to abandon his oldest and dearest friend. But Kurusu was making it difficult to stay with him. Fluff's fear, panic, and desire for sanctuary only grew as the shadows came closer. The girl, if anything, felt even worse than the cat

 _"Call upon my power,"_ this time the voice was a little louder.

"Per-" Kurusu quietly said.

"What are you waiting for!?" Fluff demanded. The Shadows were getting closer.

"Kitty?" The little girl whimpered, sounding as scared as humanly possible.

 _"Call upon my strength,"_ the voice said a little louder.

"So-" Kurusu continued.

"KURUSU!" Fluff shouted. The girl released his tail, let out a small shriek of terror, dropped to her knees, and curled into a defensive ball.

 _"Call upon, MY NAME!"_ It bellowed.

The Shadows arrived and for one moment time stood still. Kurusu was at the Shadows' mercy, inches away from what could easily be a lethal attack; Fluff was helpless to do anything, the girl was too scared to even move, and a pack of Shadows was ready to tear them apart.

"Na," as Kurusu finished speaking his left eye turned crimson and an azure flame like energy erupted from the ground and air around him, causing the tar-like creatures to scream in horror and back away as the torrent of blue power ripped through the darkness.

The girl raised her head from her defensive position and stared in awe at the brilliant blue blaze surrounding Kurusu and halting the now terrified monsters. Fluff could only stare, not at the blue energy, but at the little red dot at its center; he had never seen a persona be summoned by a human, but he knew that the change in eye color wasn't normal. He was definitely going to be talking to Igor after this.

Kurusu calmly turned around to face the cowering beasts and held his hand out, showing the tarot card. "Now rise up, YAMI!" he roared. He snapped his fingers and the card shattered like glass. The rushing blue energy intensified and from it rose a creature. It was a distorted black figure that seemed humanoid in shape. It wore narrow boots with clawed toes, wide gauntlets with red claws, and a chest plate with large, round teeth surrounding its head, all of it dark gray and connected by thick chains. It didn't have a head and face, so much as a pillar of black smoke and two glowing white circles for eyes. "Sic 'em," Kurusu ordered.

(Play "Mass Destruction – dual mix")

The creature known as Yami leapt high into the air and propelled itself back to the earth, landing with explosive force in the middle of the group of Shadows. Yami swung an arm up through one of the Shadows then ripped its blue mask off with its free hand; the dead creature faded into a black mist.

Another Shadow tried to get the drop on the Persona by attacking from behind, but Yami could sense the attack coming and as its attacker tried to hit with a long black arm the Persona deftly sliced the limb into eighths with its clawed hands before anyone could blink. Yami then grabbed the Shadow's other arm, picked it up, and slammed it into another Shadow before it loosed a barrage of razor-sharp claws on the pathetic beasts. When it finished attacking the Shadows evaporated into mist and the one remaining enemy was fleeing into the forest.

Yami calmly raised its arm, holding its palm out, and a glowing purple symbol enclosed by a circle with four flames of the same color appeared before its palm. A larger version of the magic circle appeared beneath the Shadow, causing it to stop in its tracks. Yami then closed its hand around the glowing circle. The circle below the Shadow glowed even brighter, it howled in pain and simply… died.

With the final enemy eliminated, Yami became covered in the same blue energy that Kurusu used to summon the Persona and vanished. Kurusu's red eye changed back to its original brown color as the rushing power swirled around him and dissipated almost instantly. His strength left him and he fell to the cool, unyielding forest floor, gasping for breath as cold beads of sweat rolled down his face. Still staring at the place that thing he summoned was standing and taking in all that he had seen, there was only one thing he could say. "Whoa."

 **Authors note: And that's all I wrote. I sincerely hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I did, it was a lot of fun to finally show off Fluff and the Persona, Yami. Please leave any comments or constructive critiques in the review section and don't forget to Follow and Favorite if you haven't already. Thank you all very much for bearing with me and reading this chapter, it really means a lot to me and again I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. If you'll have me, then I'll see you all in the next chapter whenever I make it, so until then, goodbye.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors note: Ha ha! I'm not dead yet! But seriously, sorry for the wait guys and gals. On top of my slacking and procrastination habits, I have a bunch of other fanfictions to work on and I've started writing one of my own original novels as well as a prototype for another book. Needless to say, I'm more than a little backed up. (That came out wrong, didn't it?) But enough of that BS, we're back into comedy in foreshadowing mode until further notice, that being said, please enjoy.**

Sitting on the cool, solid ground, a wide-eyed Kurusu stared at his open palm in shock and amazement at what he had just done. "So this… is my power?" he said to himself. "Yami…" he whispered as he curled his hand into a fist.

"KURUSU!" Fluff shouted as he scampered to his human friend, the little girl following closely behind.

Still sitting, Kurusu turned his head and watched as the bespectacled cat and small child approached him.

"That was incredible!" Fluff exclaimed as he reached the human. The girl was close behind. "I've never seen a Persona like that, and one of the Fool Arcana that can use the Mudo spell like that is quite rare," the long-haired feline continued to admire Kurusu's newfound ability, talking a mile a minute before the man in question stood up.

"That was quite a scare," Kurusu said as he got to his feet. "You okay kid?" the girl only nodded to confirm that she was unharmed. "Good," Kurusu sighed in relief. "Now that that's settled, Fluff…"

"Yes?"

"What were those things, and what exactly was that creature I summoned?" Kurusu asked.

Fluff straightened his glasses with his paw before he said, "The creatures that you fought off are called Shadows. They are the-" the cat stopped abruptly as his ears twitched and his head turned.

Kurusu looked in the same direction and could see an orange light that filled the space between the enormous trees. "What now, is it more of those things?"

The girl whimpered in fear at the thought of more monsters.

"I don't think so…" Fluff said thoughtfully. Eventually the trio heard the soft clinking of metal meeting metal as a strange looking creature came into view from behind a tree. It was smaller than the Shadows that attacked them earlier, but it was equally strange in its appearance. It had a large pumpkin for a head that was carved to look like a smiling jack-o'-lantern with sharp teeth and glowing red circles in its eyes, it also wore a black, pointed hat and a matching cape. As far as Kurusu could tell, the creature didn't have a body aside from the white gloved hand that held an old-fashioned lantern that lit the otherwise dark surroundings. "A Pyro Jack," Fluff stated.

"A what?" Kurusu asked, obviously confused.

"A Pyro Jack," Fluff repeated. "It's a type of Persona indigenous in places like the Moon Yard. They often act as guides to people who have wandered into someone else's dreamscape by mistake."

"Guides?" Kurusu said. "Does that mean it's here to help her?" He nodded to the girl, who seemed rather scared of the strange looking Pyro Jack.

"You are correct, Kurusu," Fluff stated. He then walked over to the small girl. "You need only follow him," he gestured to the Pyro Jack with a paw, "and he will lead you to your own dream."

The girl was hesitant and didn't really move. She only stared at the creepy thing that watched her with red eyes and a wide smile.

Sensing the human's unease, Fluff placed a paw on the girl's shoulder and said to her, "Would you feel better if I accompany you?" The girl nodded quickly and vigorously. "Kurusu, can you find your way back to the garden on your own?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so. But why can't I come with you?" Kurusu asked.

"Because you were supposed to stay there in the first place," the spectacled feline answered indignantly. "Come along child, let's get you home."

With that said, Fluff raised his bushy tail for the girl to grab onto and led her through the forest with the Pyro Jack ahead of them, leaving Kurusu by his lonesome self in the dark yet strangely homey forest. Though he had no memories of this place, it felt familiar to Kurusu. He had no problems navigating the paths that twisted between the large roots and eventually found himself in front of the same immaculate gate of rusted iron. With a great deal of force he opened the gate and entered the garden. As he waited for Fluff to return, Kurusu decided to observe this place in more detail than he did before.

What he saw was less than impressive. The grass was unkempt and overgrown, the stone tiles that circled the fountain and led to the various doorframes and the gate were cracked with weeds of various size and shape growing between them, and the fountain was cracked with dead Ivy vines creeping up and around the once beautiful carved stone. Finally there was the empty doorframes lining the iron fence, he counted eight in total, each different from the others.

For one reason or another that Kurusu couldn't explain, seeing this garden in such disrepair broke his heart. This place felt special to him almost like it was sacred; a place where everyone would feel welcome and safe. He was so busy taking in his surroundings he didn't even notice the scaled beauty standing behind him. "Not exactly a prime example of fine gardening is it?" the woman said.

Startled, Kurusu spun on his heels and saw a familiar lady wearing a blue dress complemented by her golden scales. "Wha- your that lady from the supermarket!"

"Indeed I am," the ryu-jin said politely. She smiled and straightened her glasses, her golden eyes seemed almost luminescent in the near total darkness. "I'm here to direct you to the Velvet Room, Master Igor wishes to speak with you," the blue clad ryu-jin sidestepped and as if it had appeared out of thin air, revealed dark blue double doors. The doors looked like they were made of pure sapphire and stood almost 7 feet tall, the elegant designs in every corner resembled golden foliage and gave a dazzling contrast to the dark azure, there were no handles or knobs to be seen, only a single small keyhole in the very middle . A silver mist hung around the frame and had a faint blue glow about it. Needless to say, it looked very out of place in the shabby garden.

When Kurusu finished gawking at the gorgeous craftsmanship of the doors, memories of a half bald, long nosed, bug eyed fortuneteller raced through his mind.

"Kurusu, do you still have the key I gave you?" the woman asked.

"Key? Oh! Yeah, it's on the windowsill by my bed."

"Are you sure?" the dragon lady said with a smile. Kurusu could detect the faintest hints of playfulness in the woman's voice. "Try looking in your pocket," she said, her smile never fading.

Seeing no harm in simply looking, Kurusu reached into his left trouser pocket and turned it out to reveal that it was empty, save for the gray clump of lint.

"Perhaps your other pocket," the ryu-jin politely suggested.

Kurusu cocked his brow, but did as he was told anyway. He reached into his right pocket and quickly found something thin and metallic. He quickly pulled the object out and saw that it was indeed the same small blue key that was given to him by the dragon woman standing before him.

"Lovely," the ryu-jin said as she abruptly snatched the key from Kurusu's hand. She turned around and placed the key in the keyhole and the dark blue doors quickly faded into a bright light. Even as someone who dealt with abnormal situations on a daily basis, Kurusu was nearly slack jawed by what he had just witnessed. He was quickly pulled out his his daze when he felt dry scales and cool metal in his palm. "Be careful not to lose it, master Igor is not one to handouts spares," she said with a strangely playful smile. "Now then, shall we be off?" she asked as she linked their arms together. Kurusu blushed profusely as he felt the nonhuman's soft form press against his arm.

"Uhhh… Sure," Kurusu said dumbly.

The Dragon lady ushered Kurusu into the bright light, which quickly became blinding. When the light died down, the surroundings came into focus. Kurusu once again found himself sitting in a soft armchair with a round glass table before him in what looked like a velvety blue luxury jet.

"Comfortable?" said the familiarly eerie voice. Sitting opposite to Kurusu was the long nosed, bug eyed fortuneteller, Igor. "I see that you met my newest assistant, Ryuko," he said, gesturing to the ryu-jin on his right, the same one that led Kurusu back to the Velvet Room. "I also see that you've discovered your newfound potential."

"Potential… what do you mean?" Kurusu asked.

"Your Persona of course, quite a fascinating specimen," Igor answered. "A spirit of light that wishes to protect those around it, yet embraces all the darkness of the world around it, Yami."

"Umm… Ryuko said that you wanted to see me about something, what is it?" Kurusu asked.

"Ah yes, I believe that you have questions you would like answered."

"Well, yeah," Kurusu answered.

"Then don't be shy, ask any questions you'd like," Igor said.

Kurusu sat there for a moment thinking of what to ask Intel he said, "For starters, what were those things that attacked us in the forest?"

"Those creatures are called Shadows, in short, they are the nightmares of one's dreams, a byproduct of the creation of the dreamscape."

"A byproduct of the dreamscape's creation… What does that even mean?" Kurusu asked.

"As Fluff has already so eloquently put, the dreamscape is the world within one's heart. Their hopes, their wishes, their strengths and weaknesses, they all create something unique within each world," Igor further explained. "When a dreamscape is formed it creates an enormous amount of energy and not all that energy is good. Much like the human mind, one's dreamscape has a dark place that is kept isolated from the rest of the world. Fear, anger, anxiety, sadness, these are all the emotions that exist within everyone's hearts. These emotions mix with the energy and, given time, become Shadows."

"What are Personas?" Kurusu asked.

"If Shadows of the nightmares that create bad dreams then Personas are what bring good dreams," Igor answered. "Like the Shadows, Personas are born from the energy created with the dreamscape. However unlike their dark counterparts, Personas are created with positive emotions, things like love and joy. There are two types of Persona: there are wild Persona, like the Pyro Jack you encountered earlier, that wander through the dreamscape and entertain their host while defending them from Shadows, and then there are one-of-a-kind Persona, like Yami, that symbolize their masters. Unlike the wild Persona, Yami is unique to you and has a bit more power to offer."

As Kurusu sat there and absorbed all of this information he became increasingly transparent. It was as if he was slipping away from reality.

Ryuko noticed her guest's fading figure and said, "Master, it would seem Kurusu's waking up."

"So he is," Igor commented.

"Huh?" Kurusu looked at his hand and saw it Igor's creepy face through his palm. "What the he–"

"Kurusu," Igor interjected regaining the young man's attention. "Before you leave there is one last thing I'd like to tell you: the power of Persona is, first and foremost, a gift. You would be wise to give thanks for that gift and never take it for granted."

When Igor finished his cryptic message Kurusu completely vanished, leaving Igor and Ryuko alone within the spacious jet. "Master," Ryuko said breaking the silence. "You seem concerned, is anything wrong?"

Igor remained silent and looked like he was thinking before he spoke. "The last time Kurusu visited the Velvet Room I read his fortune, his future is one of calamity and hardship. But after he left I read further into his future and found something rather… disturbing." He laced his long fingers together and rested his chin on his hands. "My concern is what fate Yami will lead to."

"His Persona?" Ryuko questioned. "What does that have to do with Kurusu's future?"

"It doesn't matter," Igor answered. "What ever his destiny may be we have no right to interfere. He's already taken his first step. The only question now is what path it's on."

 **Authors note: Done. (Finally.) Sorry again for taking as long as I did. I literally have no excuse, not even writers block, for not posting anything. That aside, thank you all SO much for reading. It truly means the world to me knowing that there are people out there who enjoy these stories. If you could not only Follow and/or Favorite this fic or me, but leave a detailed review telling me what I can improve on and how I can improve on it that would be absolutely fantastic. (I'm trying to become a professional author so any advice would be a HUGE help.) Thanks again for reading I'll see you in the next chapter of whatever I write next until then, see 'ya.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors note: Hello, hello! Welcome to a brand-new chapter of what is quickly becoming one of my favorite stories. As I said in the last chapter, we're back into comedy and foreshadowing mode until the next chapter. Now a fair warning, comedy isn't really within my realm of specialty, but I'll do what I can to make you laugh. Enjoy.**

Kurusu, feeling horribly groggy, opened his eyes to the site of his bedroom ceiling and its irritatingly bland color… Why was he annoyed by the color, of all things? He brought himself up to a sitting position and pinched the bridge of his nose. He felt fatigued, like his arms, legs, and chest were filled with solid lead. And he felt like he really had run through a dark forest to fight a pack of slimy monsters. "What a weird dream," he mumbled to himself.

A small item shining in the morning sunlight caught Kurusu's attention out of the corner of his eye, the key that Ryuko had given him yesterday. With an odd, newfound sense of curiosity, Kurusu picked up the tiny key. He stared at it, turning it over, observing it from different angles. But nothing about it seemed unusual, save for its blue color. For whatever reason, Kurusu was seriously thinking about shrugging off everything he remembered as nothing more than what he was told it had been, a dream, and to throw away the key in his hand. But his conscience, a tiny voice waaaayyyyy in the back of his mind, told him that it would be better to keep the little key. So he placed it back on his windowsill.

Seeing as this was one of the few mornings when Miia did **not** sneak into his bed, Kurusu decided to waste no time going to the bath. Perhaps the hot water would clear his head. Still feeling groggy and tired, he grabbed whatever clothes were within arm's reach and somehow managed to tear himself away from the soft, warm, welcoming comfort of his bed and blanket.

Kurusu opened his bedroom door and slowly trudged down the hall to his bath. As he made his way through the house he saw that almost everyone else was still asleep. It was a very early morning. The only other residents out and about were Centorea and Papi. Centorea was diligently polishing her sword before her daily run and work out. Papi was eagerly watching one of her favorite shows on the living room's flatscreen (something to do with color coordinated teenagers fighting monsters or aliens.) They both gave him their usual good mornings, but Kurusu was so dog tired all he could do was grunt (granted, he grunted at them with a smile.)

After trudging through the house for what felt like the whole damn morning, Kurusu finally made it to the bathroom. After making sure no one was in there, better safe than sorry cosidering the power of his homestays, Kurusu removed his clothes, haphazardly tossed them into a basket, heated the water, and began his bathing rituals. He washed his hair, scrubbed his backside, and cleaned his cheeks (and I don't mean his face.) When the time finally came to soak in the bath, Kurusu breathed the longest sigh of his life as he sank into the hot water.

Kurusu should have felt completely relaxed. And it's not that he wasn't. But as he looked around the bathroom he felt that same odd sense of irritation that he had experienced back in his room. Kurusu lived in a beautiful home, expertly crafted and immaculately renovated to the point that most well-off families would feel envious. But after seeing what he did in his dream last night, the vibrant hues of purple and blue and silver in the Moon Yard's night sky, the crumbling garden that felt so sacred to him, the Velvet Room, and that black creature that emerged from those azure flames, the world around him just felt so boring. "Was that all really just a dream?" he asked, not entirely aware that he was thinking aloud.

"Indeed it was," piped a familiar voice.

In his shock, Kurusu slipped and went completely under the water with a messy splash and a loud yelp. When he figured out which way was up he sprang to his feet and whipped his head around to see who was speaking to him. It was the same long-haired, white as snow feline that he had seen in his dream. "Fluff!?"

"You were expecting someone else?" Fluff responded, using his bushy tail to wipe the fog off of his frameless silver glasses. "Abbott and Costello perhaps?" He replaced the glasses on his face and pushed them up the bridge of his nose.

"What are you doing in my house? How are you in my house?! Am I still dreaming!?" Kurusu shouted while pointing at the bespectacled feline.

"I assure you, Kurusu, you are quite awake," Fluff explained calmly. "To answer your other questions, I visit all the time. You just never bother to notice. And I'm here now to fill you in on the details that Igor didn't have time to elaborate on." He approached Kurusu and jumped onto the edge of the bathtub. "Once you've finished soaking, would you mind joining me on a walk around town?" With that said, Fluff hopped off the tub's edge and made his way to the door, leaving the dumbfounded Kurusu to stew in the hot water.

"HUBBY!" When Fluff made it to the end of the room the door flew open. With the exit open, Fluff dashed out of the room, making him look like a white blur, leaving Kurusu with the resident birdbrain harpy, Papi, ready for a bath.

With a yell, Kurusu fell under the water once again. He scrambled to the far end of the tub and could only stand up by hanging onto its wall. Standing in the threshold was Pappi, a young, small girl with blue feathered wings for arms, birdlike legs, and a mess of short blue hair. At the moment the only thing preserving Pappi's decency was some conveniently foggy plumes of steam. (Don't give me that look.)

"Papi, what are you-"

"Let's take a bath together!" she interrupted and jumped in the bath with him. The next several minutes Kurusu spent trying to get out of Papi's tight hug, the feeling of the young harpie's petite, soft form pressed against his causing him to blush profusely.

Eventually Kurusu did successfully shake Papi off. And when he did she whined and complained, saying that she wanted to play longer. Kurusu gave her a stern look. "For the last time, this bath is NOT coed!" he said, his voice laced with exhaustion. He closed the sliding door with a sharp click and fell to his knees as his fatigue hit him like a sack of rocks. With no small amount of effort he got back on his feet and walked over to his clean clothes, which he left in a separate basket, and found Fluff, curled into a neat ball of fur, napping upon his shirt. Kurusu picked up the basket, causing his imaginary friend to stir.

Fluff's eyes blinked open and he stretched with a long yawn. He straightened his glasses with his paw and looked at the bemused Kurusu. "Enjoy your bath?" he asked with a smile. Kurusu heaved a sigh of bewilderment before he flipped the basket over, dropping Fluff to the ground.

 **The next 15 minutes or so would have been very boring to read (let alone write) so let's skip to the slightly less boring exposition.**

Kurusu was now fully dressed and out of his house. The sun was shining. The air was warm. And somewhere in the distance you could hear an angry taxi driver yelling at pedestrians. Kurusu and Fluff were walking along a half empty water reservoir, Kurusu on the ground and Fluff balanced on the top of a tall fence.

"So, Fluff, what exactly did you want to elaborate on?" Kurusu asked.

"I'll get to that. But before I do there's someone I want you to meet," Fluff responded.

They continued their walk in almost complete silence, the only noise between them was the background noise of the city on a Sunday morning. Until a young man spoke. "Kurusu?"

Kurusu turned his head to find a face that he had not seen for several years. The young man was fairly tall, about Kurusu's height, had bright green eyes, well-kept black hair, wore dark blue jeans, and a white color shirt befitting an office worker.

"Shiro!?" Kurusu said, wide-eyed in disbelief, but still smiling like an idiot out of sheer nostalgia. "Oh my God, I haven't seen you since middle school. How have you been?"

"How have I been? How have you been?! Jesus, I can't believe I actually recognized you. You used to look so cute, and thinner," Shiro joked.

"Used to?" Kurusu said indignantly.

I believe a little back story is in order. Kurusu and Shiro had been best friends since elementary school. Shiro was the troublemaker who would often draw on things he wasn't supposed to. And Kurusu was the voice of reason, talking Shiro out of doing something stupid or getting them out of trouble. After they graduated from middle school Shiro moved to his grandparents in Kyoto to study art.

"Not that I'm not glad to see you, but what are you doing here?" Kurusu asked his oldest friend.

"Oh, you know. Visiting family, rediscovering old stomping grounds, and running into my favorite idiot," Shiro jabbed at Kurusu just like he used to. "I'd love to stick around and chat with you, but I told my little sister I would pick her up from school today."

"You have a sister?"

"Yep. I'll introduce you next time I get the chance. How about the same time next week?" Shiro invited.

Kurusu thought it over for a brief moment. As far as he could remember he didn't have any plans next Sunday. "Sure, I'm free next Sunday."

"Sunday it is," Shiro said cheerfully. "All right, I got to go or I'll never hear the end of it. Nice talking with you buddy. Take care of yourself." With that said Shiro took off down the street, waving at Kurusu.

"Take care," Kurusu responded and waved back. It was only for a moment, but Kurusu could feel his old bond with Shiro. That was when he heard a familiar whisper in his head

 _I am thou. Thou art I … Thou hast awakened a true bond. These bonds shall become thy guiding light on thine road to salvation. Thou hast now been blessed with the power of the Hierophant arcona._

The voice left as suddenly as it came, and left Kurusu feeling a faint swelling in his chest.

"You felt it didn't you?" Fluff said, reminding Kurusu of his presence.

"What was that?" Kurusu asked feeling truly confused.

"Igor has already told you about the potential of the Fool correct?" Fluff responded.

"Yes."

"That potential is called the power of the Wildcard. It allows you to wield multiple personas at once. Your power is still weak, but as it grows not only will Yami gain new strength, but you will be able to wield more and stronger Personas. And to do that, you will need to strengthen bonds both old and new," Fluff explained.

"I don't get it," Kurusu said. "How do these _'bonds'_ make me more powerful?"

"The power of Persona is a reflection of heart. The heart is strengthened through bonds with friends and comrades and that strength is what gives Personas their power," Fluff further explained.

Kurusu still didn't fully understand, but he got the gist of it.

"I suggest you spend your time wisely and strengthen your relationships with those around you." With that Fluff turned around and left a thoroughly bemused Kurusu by himself. "I have matters I must attend to, I'll see you tonight," he called over his shoulder.

Fluff quickly disappeared from sight and Kurusu was completely alone with only his thoughts and the city noise to keep him company. It was a lot to take in. Bonds, Personas, his imaginary friend being real, Shiro's return, and the horrifying realization that everything he experienced last night was real. Kurusu absentmindedly placed his hand over his heart and felt its beating, which was surprisingly steady, all things considered, and ran all this information in his head over and over and over again.

"Strength of heart, huh?" Kurusu said to himself. He wasn't sure how. He wasn't sure why. But he knew that things were about to get really busy for him.

 **Authors note: Done. Now that I've escaped my grave and my straitjacket, I might actually be able to get some work done. But seriously, thank you guys so much for your patience. I know it's been a while since I last uploaded anything and for that I apologize, but now that I'm over my writer's block I'll try to update my stories more frequently. (I have a bunch of new ideas for all kinds of stories.) Any hoo, getting to the main point of these notes: thank you all SO much for reading, it really does mean the world to me knowing that there are people who enjoy what I create. If you liked what you saw here, remember to follow, favorite, and leave a review and I'll see you in the next chapter (whenever it comes out) of whatever I make so until then, see ya.**


End file.
